Oblivion
by aavonlea
Summary: Jemma wished that moment could last forever. A moment where they could stay like this. A moment where the girl in her arms wouldn't have to leave. But of course, that moment ended.


**(A/N) It's 2 AM right now and I just finished editing this and I am sleep deprived so... forgive me if there are a few errors.**

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_**Oblivion**_

"Remember when we didn't have anything to carry on our backs?" she spoke softly. "You know, when we didn't have anything to worry about?"

"I don't think there was ever such a time," Jemma said, her hand slipping into the hold of the other girl's cold fingers.

"Sure there was," Skye said. Jemma found it amazing that, despite how weak Skye's voice sounded, she could still hear an upbeat ring in her words. "When I first joined the team. No bad guys to deal with yet. Just…" She gave a small cough. "Just an adventure ahead."

"Well, the thing we had to worry about back then… was you," Jemma said, her voice hollow. "You were a mystery to us."

Jemma turned, looking down at the girl beside her. Skye was laying there, leaning against the wall, red and black soaking the side of her shirt while Jemma was powerless to stop it. There were no medical supplies, and certainly nothing to counteract the poison Jemma knew was in the bullet. When Skye had first been shot Jemma thought the wound wouldn't be fatal as the bullet had passed through her hip without hitting anything vital. Until the wound had started to bleed black instead of red. The team wouldn't be here for hours, and there was nothing Jemma could do.

"Skye… I…" Jemma tried to speak, the tears prickling at the corners of her eyes threatening to fall.

Skye tightened her grip on her hand, giving a weak smile. "I couldn't have been too big of a bother, though. Right?" she said, going back to the previous conversation.

"You were never a bother, Skye," Jemma said, her eyes becoming stony. "You were… the life of the team. You brought us all together."

"Go on, I do enjoy… hearing of my… many achievements," Skye said with her eyes half closed, a weak smirk on her face.

"You were the glue," Jemma said, her grip tightening on Skye's hand. Her other hand subconsciously reached over to stroke Skye's hair. Skye's breathing seemed to relax a bit at that.

"Things can only... get more fun when you… add a member of the Rising Tide… to the mix," Skye said, before going into a coughing fit. Black and red liquid began to dribble out of the corner of her mouth in a thin line. Skye's eyebrows furrowed into an expression of pain.

"It's going to be okay, Skye," Jemma said, suddenly shifting her position and putting her arm around the hacker. Skye, her eyes still half closed, fell limply into Jemma's embrace, her head resting against her shoulder. "It's going to be okay. You are going to be okay."

But Jemma knew this wasn't true. Skye's hand found Jemma's again, squeezing it gently.

"God, how did this happen?" Jemma whispered to herself, the tears finally spilling over onto her cheeks. They were just supposed to be monitoring the factory. This was supposed to be the least-risk task possible. A quiet, safe job, checking the activity of the factory that was suspected of passing along products to Cybertek while the others went after the actual Cybertek agents. Then a group dressed in black camo came into their stake-out spot, and just as quickly they were gone, leaving Jemma shaken and Skye wounded. Once they'd left Jemma had noticed they'd taken the laptop with all of their information for the team on it, but her main focus had to be Skye. That was when she found that coms were down. She couldn't contact the team to send a distress call, couldn't inform them of Skye's condition. She was completely on her own, in the dark.

"God… this wasn't supposed to happen…"

"Jem," Skye said, her tone suddenly forceful. "It's going to be okay."

Now it was Skye trying to reassure _her_. Of course, Jemma knew that Skye was no idiot. Skye knew just as well as she did how this was going to end. "Skye, I-"

"Jem, stop it. Stop that," Skye whispered.

And suddenly, Jemma was angry. Unreasonably angry. "Well, excuse me for not knowing what I could possibly say to you to show how much I care about you! Excuse me for not being able to stay quiet when you're-" Jemma said heatedly before being cut off by a soft chuckle and weak smile from the girl in her arms.

"You're… you're just like Fitz was… when you had the Chitauri virus," Skye said, her eyes becoming foggy. Whether it was from the memories coming up or the poison seeping through her body, Jemma didn't know. "I was feeling kind of… kind of the same as him, you know. I just wasn't yelling at you… when I hugged you."

Jemma looked down at Skye as she raised her head slightly to meet Jemma's eyes. Understanding seemed to pass between them.

"So we're on the same page, then?" Jemma asked, her voice holding a slight tremor.

"You don't need to say anything to show me… I know you care," Skye said, twitching her hand in what Jemma supposed was meant to be a reassuring squeeze.

"You don't know how much though," Jemma said. "And you deserve to know. You've earned that much. You're smart, and kind, and brave-"

"No. I'm afraid," Skye whispered, cutting her off with her deathly quiet voice. "Not brave… right now I'm terrified." Her eyes were scrunched together in very obvious pain, her hand now trembling in Jemma's. Her breaths were becoming more raspish, bordering on gasps and wheezes. "God, I'm terrified."

"I'm here," Jemma whispered, bringing her closer. Those were the only words of comfort that came to her petrified mind.

"Wonder if there's… any truth… to what Coulson said about dying," Skye said, her eyes going in and out of focus.

And Jemma couldn't take it anymore.

"Skye, you need to know how much I care about you," she said, closing her eyes, desperation crawling into her voice at not being able to get the words out. "I… I…"

And then Skye was no longer trembling. Her body was no longer rasping for breath. She was completely still.

_No,_ Jemma thought, her eyes tearing open in terror to look down at the girl, dreading what she might see.

Skye's eyes were open, and she was looking up at Jemma, her suddenly steady hand wrapped tightly around Jemma's. Her eyes burned with one clear message.

_I know._

Jemma wished that moment could last forever. A moment where they could stay like this. A moment where the girl in her arms wouldn't have to leave. But of course, that moment ended.

Jemma wasn't sure how long she sat on the floor in the now-abandoned factory, her arms holding tight to the body of the girl as if still trying to keep her warm, her lips pressed to the top of her head as if still desperate to prove just how deep her feelings were. She might have been there for hours, or days, or a millenium. There was no way of telling.

Even after the team arrived, Jemma hardly felt their presence. She wondered where everyone and everything was. She wondered if, perhaps, they'd forgotten the the two of them there, so they could stay in that place forever. Perhaps they would let the two of them fall into oblivion together.

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**(A/N) I love these two so much! Did I make anyone cry? Did I give anyone the feels? Leave me a review!**


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